Courtney Love by robertcastro

Courtney Love has always been a class act….I mean, really….for a woman who looks like she is that scrawny, and rather scary looking woman from Futurama. I mean, besides that….oh, and the fact that she is apparently mad at Foo Fighters. We’re not sure why.

Love told her few remaining fans down in Brazil that unless they yelled out “The Foo Fighters are gay”, she would not play an encore. They did, so she tortured them for a bit longer. What can we say, some people are masochists:

Maybe they would love this song:

Queerty notes “Your band used to be gay… they used to have a lesbian drummer… back when they were cool. . .Oooh… burn. Sick burn.”

AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo

Now this is a gay pride celebration. Authorities in Brazil have said that nearly 700,000 people were celebrating in the gay pride parade at Copacabana beach today. The participants waved rainbow flags, wore lavish Carnival costumes and there was a lot of loud music blasting from more than 15 sound trucks during the festivities.

Lesbians, gays, cross-dressers, people of all sorts danced and cheered as they demanded that Brazil enact more laws preventing homophobia. The organizers had hoped for as many as 1.5 million people, but it was never quite that many people.

Still, blows away a lot of the parades we have in the States.

Via ABC

Some of the behind-the-scenes pics of the campaign surfaced back in July. According to Gay.net:

In addition to showing Lea in a bathing suit, the on-set images showed top photographer Terry Richardson—famous for pushing the envelope—photographing two male models engaged in a kiss. Though ads featuring the same-sex couple have yet to surface, the campaign is also notable as being the last campaign model Murio Rezende posed for before he was found dead last August.

Lea T. was one of the reasons why I got into an argument with some people on a forum. Not exactly a battle about transsexuality and transgenderism.

One of Brazil’s most powerful churches has seen three of its leading members accused of stealing millions in church donations and using that money for personal gain. The charges were unveiled this past Monday by Sao Paulo’s public prosecutor and related to 404m reals which were allegedly obtained mostly from impoverished churchgoers by leaders at Brazil’s Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.

The money was then moved out of the country through a network of offshore bank accounts and money changers, allegedly. Bishop Edir Macedo, the controversial televangelist and founder of the church in 1977, and his financial director Alba Maria Silva da Costa have both been charged in the complaint.

The prosecutor behind the case, Luis Martins de Oliveira also claimed that the followers were tricked into handing over money through “false promises and threats that spiritual and economic assistance would only be bestowed upon those who made financial sacrifices for the church”.

According to the Guardian:

Prosecutors claim that although the church claimed to have received around £1.85bn in donations between 2003 and 2006, the actual sum could be much higher.

The charges also allege the church opened two offshore accounts in the early 1990s, in the Cayman Islands and in Jersey, to move donations out of the country.

The Universal Church was founded in northern Rio and today claims a worldwide congregation of 8 million followers.

Church leaders promoted the idea that faith and regular, generous donations would help the parishioners achieve material wealth. This is known as “prosperity theology”. Still, there have been many scandals involving claims that donations were used to buy luxury goods and property.

The church leaders have also been known to be extremely hostile towards Brazil’s LGBT Community and African-Brazilian religions.

The Universal Church rejected Monday’s accusations by saying “We cannot talk about something we know nothing about. But from what we can tell through the media, these are the same old accusations … that have always been shown to be untrue.”

1 September 2011 by Bridgette P. LaVictoire

The thing about acting dynasties is that there is always the possibility of an actor and their acting parent working together. In the case of Angelica Houston, her father, John, directed her in his final film The Dead. Well, for fans of True Blood, getting to see Alexander Skarsgård acting opposite his father, Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård, is something that they would love to see. Unfortunately, it is not to be.

According to Stellan, who has been in films such as Good Will Hunting and Pirates of the Caribbean, he has been asked to appear on the vampire show, but, as he told E! Online, “I don’t have the time.” He is currently promoting the DVD of his latest film Thor.

Stellan does appreciate what his son has done saying that “I think it’s very well done and he’s great in it,” speaking of the show. In fact, he takes absolutely no credit for Alexander’s success saying In fact, he wants you to know that he takes no credit for Alex’s massive success. “I don’t give him any advice at all, because for my kids, from the age of 16 their lives are their responsibility. If he had the feeling that it was thanks to me that he had any of his success, it would just be half a success. He owes everything to himself.”

Stellan just finished up with the upcoming The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and is currently finishing up The Avengers in the US before he is off to Brazil for another film. Busy does not seem to quite cover it.

Image via Wikipedia

05/25/2011 – by Cynthia S. Wright

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff under pressure from evangelical groups (no surprise there) has decided to pull anti-homophobic kits from schools.

As reported by the BBC:

A government spokesman said President Rousseff had viewed the material personally and decided to suspend its distribution.

“She didn’t like what she saw,” Gilberto Carvalho said.

He said President Rousseff was unhappy with the footage and believed it did not offer an objective picture of homosexuality. The “anti-homophobia kits”, as they are known in Brazil, were about to be rolled out by Brazil’s ministry of health and the ministry of education. Several members of Brazil’s chamber of deputies with strong evangelic Christian beliefs said the sex education packs encouraged homosexual behaviour.

The evangelicals against the kits believe it encourages homosexual behavior, the kits contain gay and lesbian footage that are meant to combat homophobia. It appears, unfortunately that the evangelicals are not trying to subscribe to that sentiment.

This has caused several Brazilian citizens to question whether this is a sign of Rousseff changing her mind about LGBT and human rights. Congressman, Jean Wyllys, has come out stating his disgust for Rousseff’s decision.

“I voted for her in the last elections because I thought she would defend the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual citizens. If she doesn’t do a U-turn and change her mind, I will urge all gay people not to vote for her again.”

With Brazil making inroads pertaining to LGBT rights, let’s hope the country is not back peddling (akin to the struggles the United States is currently facing) on its opinion of LGBT rights.

Related articles

• Brazilian President Rousseff Pulls Distribution of Anti-Homophobia Kits to Schools (towleroad.com)
• Brazil President bans “Anti-Homophobia Kits” (queerlandia.com)
• Brazilian leader suspends anti-homophobia campaign (sfgate.com)

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

05/07/2011 – by Cynthia S. Wright

Brazilian Volei Futuro player, Michael dos Santos has recently come out due to his having homophobic slurs chanted at him during a volleyball game against Sada Cruzeiro. Four days after the game, where his team lost 3-2, Santos took the rare step and came out on the GloboEsporte website. “I am gay. Everyone here knows it,” Santos stated.

With Santos being a sports star, this is proving to be a major move. Since there are a handful of sports athletes prominently out around the world – with most of them being female athletes. Santos’ admission is showing that despite the countries recent statistics that showed LGBT backlash has risen to 113 percent since 5 years ago – the views of homosexuality is slowly starting to change for this machismo driven country.

The times are changing, indeed. This year, the first openly gay congressman, Jean Wyllys de Matos Santos was elected making LGBT rights part of his platform. On Thursday, the Brazilian top court ruled that same-sex civil unions must be recognized. The ruling gave the 60,000 self-identified same-sex couples the full rights as those of straight couples pertaining to alimony, inheritance, retirement – even though, it is not considered marriage most of the countries LGBT community supports the decision. Proving that, despite what others may think; Brazil has a prevalent LGBT population that is being heard and listened to.

In Santos’ case, during his next game, fans showed up with pink glow sticks with his number, fans of the opposing team (Sada Cruzeiro) also carried apologetic banners. During the entire game maintenance crews wore rainbow shirts in support, and the town’s mayor also hung a banner denouncing homophobia.

Even though, most view Brazil as a third world country; it appears they are rich in their out pouring of respect – which a lot of countries considered “first world” appear to lack.

“The degree of [sic] civilisation of a country can be measured by the way people in a nation treat their homosexual community,” Claudio Nascimento, lead of Rio de Janeiro state‘s GLT Committee stated, according to O Globo.

Related articles

• Brazilian volleyball player Michael dos Santos comes out after homophobic slurs from bleachers (miamiherald.typepad.com)
• Brazil athlete comes out after homophobic slurs (sfgate.com)
• Brazil athlete comes out after homophobic slurs (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

O ministro Luiz Fux e a ministra Cármen Lúcia Antunes Rocha concluíram seus votos e acompanharam o entendimento do ministro Ayres Britto, no sentido de dar interpretação conforme a Constituição Federal para excluir qualquer significado do artigo 1.723, do Código Civil, que impeça o reconhecimento da união entre pessoas do mesmo sexo como entidade familiar.

Ayres Britto é o relator das duas ações em julgamento pelo Plenário do Supremo Tribunal Federal a respeito da união homoafetiva. Ele proferiu seu voto na sessão de ontem (4).

No momento, vota o ministro Ricardo Lewandowski.

Em instantes, mais detalhes.

To be blunt, Portuguese do Brazil is not my strong suit linguistically. A babelfish translation of the story yielded barely enough detail to know that this is about same-sex unions, but not whether or not they had been approved.

Currently, we are waiting for the English language press to pick up the story. Stay tuned.

Navi Pillay

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay released this address 4 May on hate crimes against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people. Thanks to Paul Canning of LGBT Asylum for bringing this to our attention.

Cited are incidents in Brazil, Honduras, the United States and South Africa.

The argument is made against those saying that sexual orientation and gender identity are ‘new concepts’ (the argument of the Conference of Islamic States and some African states in international institutions), saying that archaeologists have discovered evidence of same-sex relationships dating back 4,000 years. But she also notes that it is 17 years since UN human rights institutions said that anti-gay legislation was wrong.

Pillay remembers how when she was a child those who were left-handed were forced to use their right hand.

“Those teachers may have though they were doing the right thing but in time we learned,” she says. “People are different … it does not matter. The important thing is to let people flourish.”

Equal rights for all is “a great human rights cause and one I am proud to support.”

For the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) a first ever brochure highlighting UN official positions on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Human Rights has been produced.

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
Facebook Melanie
twitter @oblogdeeoblogda

For a decade,  Brazil  has refrained from condemning or imposing sanctions on Iran, citing those were not “effective instruments” to solve the problems of that Country. But what about the problems of that Country as it resides in the larger World?

Did it take a woman President – Dilma Rouseff to update Brazil’s Foreign Policy stance – can we ‘genderize’  or tenderize her perspective?  Maybe not go there and merely note that she is an effective leader regardless of her gender and courageous as I have known most woman leaders to be! She has provided a redefined Brazil’s foreign policy toward Iran; “the nation’s representative at the Human Rights council of the United Nations was instructed to manifest full support to an initiative proposed by the US government, of sending a special delegation to Iran to investigate alleged violations to universal human rights under the government of Mahmud Ahmadinejad.” According to the “Hispanically Speaking News” site.

Rousseff has cited as one of her main objectives as president of Brazil, to make of her government an emblem, a poster example of defense of human rights, for which she considers her government “against all dictatorships in the planet,” a sharp contrast to the government of former president Lula, who never condemned or voiced discontent with Iran’s oppressive policy and sketchy arms and nuclear deals, and who once compared the revolts following the latest Iranian elections, with the mêlées between soccer fans at a stadium.

Political analysts speculate that Rousseff is after something Lula wasn’t able to conquer: a permanent seat at the United Nations’ Security Council. “It is unthinkable,” Rouseff said, “to restructure [the Council] not keeping Brazil in mind.”

source Full story: www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
Facebook Melanie
twitter @oblogdeeoblogda

Cachaça Magnifica recently unveiled their new ad campaign for one of their more popular alcohol brands. It involves a floorplan of an amazing apartment with the only things labeled happens to be three squares, labeled “Your Son, Your Son’s Buddy, and Brokeback Mountain“.

The punchline reads “If you gotta be strong. We gotta be strong.”  This ad is one of the three advertisements that are being used to publicize the popular Brazilian alcohol brand and out of three, this is the one that is drumming up the most publicity.

Giving how Brazil usually takes to sexualizing (ironically, this is advertisement is American and NSFW) women to make a buck, at least this one is taking a different approach. It is not painting the best picture, in that it is reinforcing that in order to stomach your son’s sexuality, one needs a stiff drink to cope. Reinforcing the idea, that it is still not acceptable to be gay but thankfully, through the “strong” taste of Cachaça Magnifica – you won’t be feeling anything one way or the other. Nothing like numbing your feelings while your son is coming to terms with his sexuality.

Also, why is the house so big? The point would have still come across in a tiny, two bedroom apartment. Just saying.

Related articles

• If Your Son Is Gay, Get Drunk (joemygod.blogspot.com)
• Magnifica Cachaça Is The Drink Of Choice For Fathers Of Gay Sons (queerty.com)

President Obama

President Obama is on a trade mission to South America. So, naturally, the right wing is screaming “where the f–k is Obama?” They are acting like the United States is in crisis and he’s abandoned us.

Excuse me, but what crisis? Japan has a crisis – three of them in fact – and Libya has a crisis, but the United States does not have any crisis that demands our President’s presence. The right wing is acting like President Obama should be at the Fukushima plant with his finger in a hole in the containment wall or personally firing the missiles at Libya. I hate to remind them of this, but Dubya didn’t personally lead the troops invading Afghanistan.

The funny one was Pat Buchanan saying that the President would be “partying in Rio.” Sorry, Pat, Carnivale is over.

The right wing is also spreading their favorite boogey-man stories about the trip to Brazil. It goes like this – the United States taxpayers “gave” a couple billion dollars to Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company. Petrobras is “owned” by George Soros. The oil is “promised” to China. So, what are the facts? Petrobras was approved for a loan of $2 billion from the Export-Import Bank for the specific purpose of purchasing American equipment. They were further approved for a loan of $308 million as part of that $2 billion. They have never taken advantage of the pre-approval. In short – not one dime has gone to Petrobras. Period. End of sentence. Petrobras did get a $10 billion loan from China and has pledged 150,000 barrels a day for one year and 200,000 barrels a day for the next nine to repay the loan. Petrobras has announced the discovery of three massive oil fields off its coast, with enough oil in them to push Petrobras beyond Saudi Arabia as holding the largest reserves in the world.

So, no loan to Brazil, no Soros, no hidden agenda in Brazil. Brazil has a thriving economy. Almost all of South America came through the global recession with very little damage. They would be good trading partners.

Sometimes, dealing with the right wing feels like getting caught in a Kafka novel. It’s just too surreal for comfort.

Related articles

• “US Approves Floating Vessels For Oil Exploration in Gulf, Petrobras First To Use, in The US!” and related posts (shockedinvestor.blogspot.com)
• “I guess Petrobras oil doesn’t spill or is it a payoff to Soros?” and related posts (commonsensewonder.blogspot.com)
• Petrobras (PBR): Brazil Firm Boasts ‘Huge Reserves’ (bloggingstocks.com)

Okay, our founding fathers said we had a inalienable right to pursue happiness, but they never thought to include happiness among our rights in the Constitution.

There is a bill being voted on in the Brazilian senate to amend their Constitution to make the “search for happiness” a guaranteed right. It is expected to pass and then go to the lower house. This debate is being held one month before Carnival, probably the biggest party on earth. Well, at least that’s what the PR folks in Rio de Janeiro call it.

Mauro Motoryn, Director of the Happier Movement, the non-governmental organizsation backing the legislation said “In Brazil, we’ve had economic growth with the social growth hoped for. With the constitutional amendment, we want to provoke discussion, to seek approval for the creation of conditions in which social rights are upheld.”

Both Japan and South Korea include the right to happiness in their constitutions and the Himalayna kingdom of Bhutan has maintained a “happiness index” for its citizens since the mid-1970’2. The British government recently announced plans to begin a $3 million project to measure citizens’ happiness. The announcement, in the midst of draconian cuts in social programs, has made a lot of Brits very unhappy.

The Brazilian bill would insert the phrase “pursuit of happiness” into Article 6, which states that education, health, food, work, housing, leisure and security, among other issues, are the rights of all citizens. Sound familiar? Those are the economic rights proposed in 1944 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his Second Bill of Rights.

The debate about this bill has been an argument over whether this amendment would have any meaningful impact on the social problems of Brazil. Though Brazil is on track to be the world’s fifth largest economy in the next few years, it has an inadequate education system, poor roads and railways and massive slums. The government has failed to fulfill the existing rights in Article 6. The anti-happiness crowd says that adding another right will not make any progress on assuring all Brazilians their existing rights.

At least it has done what Mauro Motoryn wanted it to do, open a real dialogue about Brazil’s problems.

Stock.

Immigration Equality is a thorn in the side of all gays and lesbians seeking asylum in the USA,  -  In the realm of gay asylum,  Immigration groups and Attorneys ought to be working to establish precedents in the US to help create case law in a realm yet to be tried.   However lawyers tend to turn their backs on “losing cases” from Countries they believe to be harmless and important cases are never tried.

“I was persecuted for being fruity, a boy-girl, a fatso, a faggot — I felt like a monster,” said the man from Brazil, who reported being raped by an uncle at age 12, sexually abused by two police officers, and hounded and beaten by his peers before fleeing to the United States in 2000. “Here, being gay was my salvation. So I knew I had to put on the performance of my life.”

In a report in the new York Times, Romulo Castro considered attending his asylum interview in Rosedale, Queens, dressed as Fidela Castro, in drag, adorning six-inch stilettos, a bright green poodle skirt and a mane of strawberry blond hair. In the end, Mr. Castro, 34, opted for what he described as understatement: pink eye shadow, a bright pink V-neck shirt and intermittent outbursts of tears.

Romulo Castro, who is gay, feared deportation to his native Brazil and so his lawyer told him to “queen it up” which in essence was “be the real you!”

After years of trying to conceal his sexual orientation back home in Brazil (where Fidela stayed in the closet keeping company with his fine couture), Mr. Castro had been advised by his immigration lawyer that flaunting it was now his best weapon against deportation……. read the rest of the article here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/nyregion/29asylum.html?_r=3

Mr. Castro, the son of an army officer in a staunchly conservative Roman Catholic family, said he was initially advised by immigration lawyers in Washington and New York not to bother applying for asylum since he came from Brazil, a country that has developed a reputation for gay pride parades, Carnival pageantry and drag queens.

In the last year a lesbian woman in the US was turned down by the gay group, Immigration Equality the self described  preeminent LGBT immigration organization, and a bevy of Immigration attorneys refused to handle her case for asylum, citing as a major factor that she was from Country that was accepting of gays.  Yet some of these countries may assert overt acceptance, but the asylum seekers are often brutalized and tormented in their own communities, setting off a chain of victimization that often pits officials against victim rather than the perpetrator, because the society itself has an under current of hate and intolerance.

Some cases, if fully investigated and pursued by attorneys, will yield unique aspects that if tried, instead of turned away, could actually serve to set valuable precedent for gay and lesbian and transgender asylum seekers.  Each case must be dealt with on a case by case basis and I believe that immigration lawyers have sold asylum seekers short by not pursuing these cases, which they perceive to be losing cases – until they at least take the trouble to at least conduct a full and in depth interview.

In the case of the lesbian I have mentioned, after a year of searching for representation, one group of brilliant lawyers came forward and pro bono decided to take up the case which will be heard in the next few months.  While lawyers may find it financially unproductive to help people with risky cases,  at the very least organizations such as Immigration Equality should take risks of failure to chase the ultimate precedent.

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
Facebook Melanie
twitter @oblogdeeoblogda

Related articles

• Kurdish Lesbian Couple Deportation Question as Sweden Deports 26 Christian Asylum Seekers (lezgetreal.com)

It is unlikely that the shootings had anything to do with sexuality, and were solely based upon an argument between the two gangs.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38714876

Elvis e Madona is a fun crowd pleaser from Brazil. The film tackles a gray area of LGBT life, a post-op (with no plans to op, other than a boob job) male to female transsexual, Madona (Igor Cotrim) falls in love with Elvis (Simone Spoladore), a lesbian. Elvis is a sexy pizza delivery boi who aspires to be a photographer. She discovers Madona after Madona’s lover, Tripod Joe, hits her and steals her life savings. Madona was saving that money to produce her own drag show. Madona is devastated, Elvis, the little butch, consoles her. Madona can’t call the cops, they don’t like transwomen, so she accepts the fact that her money is gone. Elvis pursues the warm hearted, flamboyant Madona aggressively.

Their courtship is sweet and simple. For once, there are no homophobes throwing tomatoes on the sidelines. There is little conflict for most of the movie, and the audience can really enjoy seeing these two women develop their relationship. The biggest threat comes from Tripod Joe, who Elvis inadvertently gets locked up after a photograph she takes of a drug deal he is a part of. Meanwhile, the girls get together and have traditional man/woman sex, only Elvis is on top. Are they still gay? The answer is yes, 100%. But both the ladies are thrown for a curveball when…Elvis gets pregnant…and Madona secretly engages in porn with Tripod Joe, to try to recoup the money he stole from her.

There are two problems with this movie. The first being that the English subtitles were awful. The movie is in Portuguese, anyone with a rudimentary understanding of any romance language, can tell that there were whole lines of dialogue that weren’t translated properly. I felt a little jipped, as the native Portuguese speakers in the audience were laughing in places where the English speaking audience wasn’t. There is also the problem of conflict, which is a huge problem for most writers and it is apparent that this is director Marcelo Laffitte’s debut feature. There isn’t enough conflict in the movie and the few obstacles that the women do face and vanquished with little to no real struggle. Elvis forgives Madona for the porn slip just minutes after she discovers it and Elvis’ upperclass family accepts her relationship with Madona after a few choice curse words. However, it’s also the lack of conflict that gives the movie it’s charm. After seeing Ticked off Trannies with Knives, the other trans offering presented by the Tribeca Film Festival, it was refreshing to see a movie that highlights the good in life rather than the bad.

Overall, Elvis e Madona is worth a viewing. It’s a great first date movie and one of the few LGBT movies where the girl gets the girl and they live happily ever after.   

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Tim Coco, the US citizen binational spouse said that  Attorney General Eric Holder did not act on a Friday deadline in the case of Genesio “Junior” Oliveira, effectively denying the 30-year-old Brazilian man’s request for asylum in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds.

This is not the first time a gay man from Brazil has been denied an immigration path through marriage to the USA.  The other case involving a Brazilian is that of the husband of US citizen Gordon Stewart, as Pfizer employee who is now living in exile in the United Kingdom so he and his spouse can live their marital relationship.

In June 2009, Gordo, together with Shirley Tan provided oral testimony before Senator Leahy and other Senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the hope that the Uniting American Families Act would engage congress enough to do something about the inequities in our immigration law.

Coco said, “We needed the Attorney General to make a decision on whether Junior could come home,” said Coco, 48, of Haverhill. “He didn’t take this request seriously.”  It seems as if the Justice department has yet to respond to questions about this case.

In 2002, Oliveira had sought asylum in the U.S. apparently basing his case on a rape as a teenager in Brazil.  But an immigration judge denied his request.  The Associated Press noted that it does not typically name rape victims, but Oliveira speaks openly about his case and is allowing his name to be used.

Oliveira  and Coco married in Massachusetts in 2005 and bought a house together. However unlike other married couples in the US, gay marriages have no bearing on the immigration law that overtly discriminates against same-sex spouses.  The undeniable fact is that gays and lesbians are allowed  to marry in the US in under the law of certain States. Yet because of the Defense of Marriage Act they are precluded from federal rights which includes that provided by the Immigration and Naturalization Act.

In March, Sen. John Kerry asked Attorney General Eric Holder to grant Oliveira asylum on humanitarian grounds.  Kerry spokeswoman Brigid O’Rourke said Monday that the senator will continue to work toward a solution that would reunite the couple for good. The fact is that if Tim and Junior were a heterosexual married couple, they would never have suffered through more than two years of separation,” said O’Rourke.

The Uniting American Families needs it’s time now. While there are thousands of unpublicized stories in the shadows right now, many more are being exposed to Congress and yet Senators such as Kerry who favor the passage of UAFA are still failing in their leadership on the issues.  What is the point of advocating for individuals when you have the power of the legislation in your hands?

Coco said he thought there was “no way” the Obama Administration would deny Oliveira’s asylum request after Kerry made his plea to Holder.  “We are profoundly sad,” said Coco. “This is more than any married should have to face.”

AP reports, the case comes as Obama tries to smooth a rocky relationship with gay activists, who want him to end the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays, which he has pledged to do but hasn’t given a timeline. Tens of thousands of gay rights supporters marched in Washington earlier this month, demanding Obama keep his promise to end the policy.

Coco said he has spent about $250,000 in legal bills and hasn’t seen Oliveira since January, though the two video chat online every night. A heterosexual sponsorship of a spouse costs $750-$1500 if you use an attorney.

Oliveira was denied a visa to return to Massachusetts last year for the funeral of Coco’s mother. Gordon Stewart’s husband has been denied the right to visit his spouse’s sister who has cancer. 

Coco said the couple plans to launch a legal challenge against the federal Defense of Marriage Act as a violation of immigration laws.

That may be a worthy attempt but with my experience in this issue I believe that energy should be put into legislation – we should be calling all our Representatives in Congress and demanding the change we were promised.  Challenging this in the Courts will still yield one major shield for those who are not allowed to marry in their respective States.  Until marriage is uniform, UAFA, which ascribes the right to Permanent Partners, as the relationship that seeks validity to circumvent DOMA.  

 In the meantime, pending legislation, which must happen and soon,  I call on Senators Feinstein, Kerry, Gillibrand, Schumer, Frank to pave the way for binationals by enacting / introducing/Class Private Bill whatever it takes -a moratorium on all deportations of married LGBT spouses;  by providing a special Visa Program with status for married LGBT couples (perhaps one that can sunset pending a solution or legislation– similar to the R1 (religious workers visa program) for married lesbians and gay spouses.

When I was in DC during August I spoke with congressional staffers and received an “interested” response to this idea. 

The reason for this is based less on the privilege granted to ‘a would be immigrant,’ but rather based on the RIGHT – the CIVIL RIGHT of the American Spouse…. Never since the days pre-civil rights movement has there been such a flagrant apartheid-esque practice perpetuated upon US citizens.  We do not have a right that other Americans have.

O’Rourke said Kerry supports the couple’s legal challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, which limits how state, local and federal bodies can recognize partnerships and determine benefits. He also called for a law to extend benefits to domestic partners. This I personally find outrages. Why does Senator Kerry not get behind the REPEAL of DOMA.  Congressman Nadler has had the courage to introduce it in the form of the Respect of Marriage Act.  Why is he talking Domestic Partnership.  Another incremental crumb? I don’t want to hear that word…Domestic Partnership.

This month, Obama called on Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Well do it. This case is one in thousands. We need our remedy now. I am not available for a life on hold. Neither is Mr. Coco.

 Melanie Nathan. nathan@privatecourts.com

blogger  and personal advocate
www.oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com

In September 2007, a man was murdered outside of a nightclub in a city in Brazil because he was openly gay.

Although it is known who is responsible, an arrest has never been made. The man who was murdered was a best friend of movie director M Pink Christofalo. Shortly after his murder, in efforts to stop situations like this from happening, Christofalo put out a message asking for any victims of hate crime to contact her. The message went out through a local radio broadcast in the only available time slot Christofalo could get – the twilight hours. Despite the randomness of the radio spot, there were thousands of responses to her message via telephone and email. What was more astounding was that many, if not most, were from kids and teens.

Making a commitment to help the children of Brazil, Christofalo comitted to a project which would raise awareness of the situation and bring about change in the country.

The project gained the backing of Amnesty International, who is offering a sizeable grant towards the project, provided that Christofalo has her crew in Brazil by a certain date. Unfortunately for Christofalo, that date has since passed, and the crew is still in the U.S. The crew needs a total of $15,000 to make the journey.

With the economy as it stands finding funding for projects such as this is becoming increasingly difficult.

An initial investor in the film backed out on funding the project just days before the crew was set to leave. Short term fund raising efforts have raised $5, 500 so far, yet Christofalo finds herself $9,500 short of her goal and time running out on the Amnesty grant.

Amnesty International has extended the groups final deadline to June 23rd, when they must be in Brazil to receive the grant for production.

Should they not reach Brazil in time, the entire project will come to a halt. Unfortunately, there have been several murders and suicides since the initial radio spot, and those who have contacted the project are waiting for a miracle, for someone to show the world what is really going on in their country.

With less than one week to the deadline, Christofalo is open to donations of all sizes from one dollar and up to make their goal and get to Brazil.

Donations can be made at www.ilivekind.org through June 22nd.

Anyone interested in helping the project is encouraged to forward this article, post to your blogs and websites, or share on your social networking profiles.

We have until June 10th to help the documentary film Our World get out to Brazil.

This documentary tells the story of hate crimes against gays and lesbians in Brazil, a country that leads the world in these attacks; in hopes that the film will bring about significant change in Brazil and throughout the world. The film is being endorsed by Amnesty International and UNICEF, and will be shown at The Sundance Film Festival along with 18 other international film festivals.

The majority of crimes in the country are affecting children and teens.

We are asking everyone to donate $10 to reach our goal of $15, 000.

There has been around $3,000 in donations so far and we need to keep it going!!

Please make a donation today at www.ilivekind.org and note the donation is for “Our World”.

Plus here is something fun… if you make $100 donation or more, your name will be added to the credits of the film.

Of course, donations in any amount help and bring us closer towards the goal.

Please spread the word to those who would be interested and thank you for your help in stopping hate crimes in Brazil and around the world!!!

Brazil has the highest rate of hate crimes in the entire world, and this documentary film has a unique chance to make a change. They have received a grant from within Brazil for their project, yet do not have the funds to get there! The deadline for investors and sponsors has came and went and they now have just a fews days to come up with $15,000 in order to make it out to Brazil by June 10th, get the grant, and reach those who they need to to make this project a reality.

If we can each donate $15 to this cause, we can get them to Brazil and make this film happen!!!

This is not just any documentary and if you knew the entire backstory you would want to give anything you could but all we need is one thousand kind hearts to give $15 to help this cause.

Please make a donation RIGHT NOW thru iLiveKind.org RIGHT HERE. **please note that the donation is for OurWorld**

PLEASE REPOST RETWEET FORWARD AND BULLETIN THIS POST!!

Here is a letter from one of the youths who are hoping for this documentary to be made:

I hope this is the correct email address for the documentary
movie. There have been some talks in the chat groups but I didn’t
copy the conversation about it.
This is not easy like I thought it would be.
Yesterday was my birthday. I turned seventeen years old. I hate
birthday parties for me. My mother calls my neighbors and invites
everybody she can to our house. I don’t know too many of the
people but my mother says I should be friends with them. She
always invites a lot of boys.
I think they act stupid with me. They’re really stupid and ask me
to kiss them or they’re very mean and tell me I’m not like a
normal girl.
I know they hate me. I know everybody hates me! Maybe not my
friends at the gas station. No they don’t hate me, but everyone
else does.
Everyone at my school! Yes, they hate me so much. When my teacher
sees me walking, he always calls me “Boy”. He hates me. “Are you
a girl or a boy? Watch where you are walking! Boy! You are sick”.
Ana likes me. She’s the only one at school.
She moved with her family here in the start of last year. When I
saw her asking for directions at the bus stop I helped her. Then
she invited me to have dinner at her house.
I wish I had her family! Her parents were so nice. So opposite
from my parents. One day at her house, we kissed. She said it was
okay. Her parents didn’t say anything bad when she told them. I
remember it finally made me feel good to be alive.
That’s when I asked her to meet my friend’s at the gas station.
We went there almost every day after I have dinner at Ana’s
house. It was our place to hang out. I knew that everyone would
like her and they did. We don’t have to hide there because the
local people use the station in town.
Two months ago, Ana was with me and my friends at the gas
station.
One boy from church named Eric came to put gas in his car. I
didn’t know if he saw me, but I could feel my heart beat too
fast.
All my friends were having a good time after he left, but I had a
terrible feeling inside.
Ana’s dad didn’t pick us up, so we walked home.
I heard a car very slow come close to us, “Hey boys”. I saw it
was Eric in his car with two other guys from my mom’s church with
him.
I said very low to Ana “run”, but she was telling me I had to be
calm. When I heard the doors of the car open, I felt a shot
inside me and I ran so fast. Faster than I ever had.
I looked for Ana but the two guys were holding her arms and Eric
was tearing her dress.
I am not a big person. I am skinny but that makes me fast and
when I saw Ana, I ran back to her with all my energy and I kicked
Eric between his legs.
I saw one boy let go of Ana’s arm and when he did this she shook
herself loose from the other boy. Then she ran faster that I
think she’s run in whole entire life.
I think the boy who was holding Ana or maybe someone else kicked
my back because I fell on my knees like in a prayer position. I
felt a foot kick my stomach. My head started to feel very hot
after that and I think I fell asleep.
I woke up later but only with my eyes. I could feel my face was
glued to the street. Maybe because my blood was drying on the
ground so it was hard to lift my head.
There was no sensation in my entire body. Like you could put a
needle through me and I know I wouldn’t feel anything.
I tried to walk, but I fell many times.
Suddenly, I opened my eyes again and I was inside the hospital.
A nurse came and told me that a couple called an ambulance for
me. She told me that there was a policeman in the hospital, if I
wanted to talk to him she would call him for me.
I remember he looked very clean. Too clean to be a regular police
officer. Especially because we were in the hospital.
He told the nurse he had to speak with me in private and she left
me with him. Something felt bad about the way he closed the door
behind her. Then I felt very afraid because he locked the door.
He came very close to my bed and put his hands on me. He said
that Eric was a good boy from church and that his father was
going to be the mayor soon.
I said to him that Eric raped me with his friends.
He laughed so loud. It was like bells in my head. I felt like I
saw the devil in his face. I don’t remember really crying, but I
do remember how the cuts on my face burned.
He put his hands under the blanket and he touched my thighs very
close to my-
He kept touching me. He said, “you didn’t get raped, dumb girl.
You know you want to be a boy and boys don’t rape boys”.
When he left the room I wanted to die. I didn’t speak to any
person after that. Not even to say “hello”.
My father took me home. He stopped the car in front of our house
to talk with me. “I knew this was gonna happen with the way you
are”.
He cried.
I never saw my father cry. Before he got out of the car he said,
“it would have been better if you died”.
In my bedroom I looked in the mirror to see my body after
everything. Like a Frankenstein monster.
My shoulder looked like a quilt my mother made.
Leftover pieces of me sewn together to try making me whole again.
Then I cried because I think I noticed that I have never been
whole.
Except with Ana.
I dialed her house number so fast. A million thoughts started to
grow in my mind when her mother answered.
She told me they sent Ana to Sao Paulo and were selling their
house to move. Her voice sounded tired.
“I’m so sorry for what happened to you. Ana told me you saved her
life and for this I will pray for you forever. I hope you survive
this and leave to a better place one day. I’m sorry I can’t help
but your parents have threatened to take us to court if we speak
with you more.”
Now I understand what people mean when they say their heart
breaks because I am very sure I felt mine begin to crack with her
words.
I didn’t get a chance to say anything. Ana’s mom hung up the
phone.
I’m not very sure about what to do. My mother says I should
pretend all of this didn’t happen to me and maybe I can go out
with a boy from our church now.
I was very mad… I am very mad because she knows the boys who did
this to me. They are from our church!
I hate to be such a terrible problem for everyone.
Maybe it’s better if I am dead. I’m scared now.
I don’t think I’m strong enough for this life.

If you don’t have $15, please help by forwarding this post to 15 people who might.

THANK YOU FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE.

Once again here is the link where you can make your $15 donation to help Our World. THANK YOU!

There is a film crew working on a documentary that tells the story of hate crimes against gays and lesbians in Brazil, a country that leads the world in these attacks; in hopes that the film will bring about significant change in Brazil and throughout the world.

The film is being offered a grant by Amnesty International, and will be shown at The Sundance Film Festival (along with 18 other international film festivals).

The film is receiving story after story of abuse, rape, and more. Here is one such letter written to the film producers recently…

I hope this is the correct email address for the documentary
movie. There have been some talks in the chat groups but I didn’t
copy the conversation about it.
This is not easy like I thought it would be.
Yesterday was my birthday. I turned seventeen years old. I hate
birthday parties for me. My mother calls my neighbors and invites
everybody she can to our house. I don’t know too many of the
people but my mother says I should be friends with them. She
always invites a lot of boys.
I think they act stupid with me. They’re really stupid and ask me
to kiss them or they’re very mean and tell me I’m not like a
normal girl.
I know they hate me. I know everybody hates me! Maybe not my
friends at the gas station. No they don’t hate me, but everyone
else does.
Everyone at my school! Yes, they hate me so much. When my teacher
sees me walking, he always calls me “Boy”. He hates me. “Are you
a girl or a boy? Watch where you are walking! Boy! You are sick”.
Ana likes me. She’s the only one at school.
She moved with her family here in the start of last year. When I
saw her asking for directions at the bus stop I helped her. Then
she invited me to have dinner at her house.
I wish I had her family! Her parents were so nice. So opposite
from my parents. One day at her house, we kissed. She said it was
okay. Her parents didn’t say anything bad when she told them. I
remember it finally made me feel good to be alive.
That’s when I asked her to meet my friend’s at the gas station.
We went there almost every day after I have dinner at Ana’s
house. It was our place to hang out. I knew that everyone would
like her and they did. We don’t have to hide there because the
local people use the station in town.
Two months ago, Ana was with me and my friends at the gas
station.
One boy from church named Eric came to put gas in his car. I
didn’t know if he saw me, but I could feel my heart beat too
fast.
All my friends were having a good time after he left, but I had a
terrible feeling inside.
Ana’s dad didn’t pick us up, so we walked home.
I heard a car very slow come close to us, “Hey boys”. I saw it
was Eric in his car with two other guys from my mom’s church with
him.
I said very low to Ana “run”, but she was telling me I had to be
calm. When I heard the doors of the car open, I felt a shot
inside me and I ran so fast. Faster than I ever had.
I looked for Ana but the two guys were holding her arms and Eric
was tearing her dress.
I am not a big person. I am skinny but that makes me fast and
when I saw Ana, I ran back to her with all my energy and I kicked
Eric between his legs.
I saw one boy let go of Ana’s arm and when he did this she shook
herself loose from the other boy. Then she ran faster that I
think she’s run in whole entire life.
I think the boy who was holding Ana or maybe someone else kicked
my back because I fell on my knees like in a prayer position. I
felt a foot kick my stomach. My head started to feel very hot
after that and I think I fell asleep.
I woke up later but only with my eyes. I could feel my face was
glued to the street. Maybe because my blood was drying on the
ground so it was hard to lift my head.
There was no sensation in my entire body. Like you could put a
needle through me and I know I wouldn’t feel anything.
I tried to walk, but I fell many times.
Suddenly, I opened my eyes again and I was inside the hospital.
A nurse came and told me that a couple called an ambulance for
me. She told me that there was a policeman in the hospital, if I
wanted to talk to him she would call him for me.
I remember he looked very clean. Too clean to be a regular police
officer. Especially because we were in the hospital.
He told the nurse he had to speak with me in private and she left
me with him. Something felt bad about the way he closed the door
behind her. Then I felt very afraid because he locked the door.
He came very close to my bed and put his hands on me. He said
that Eric was a good boy from church and that his father was
going to be the mayor soon.
I said to him that Eric raped me with his friends.
He laughed so loud. It was like bells in my head. I felt like I
saw the devil in his face. I don’t remember really crying, but I
do remember how the cuts on my face burned.
He put his hands under the blanket and he touched my thighs very
close to my-
He kept touching me. He said, “you didn’t get raped, dumb girl.
You know you want to be a boy and boys don’t rape boys”.
When he left the room I wanted to die. I didn’t speak to any
person after that. Not even to say “hello”.
My father took me home. He stopped the car in front of our house
to talk with me. “I knew this was gonna happen with the way you
are”.
He cried.
I never saw my father cry. Before he got out of the car he said,
“it would have been better if you died”.
In my bedroom I looked in the mirror to see my body after
everything. Like a Frankenstein monster.
My shoulder looked like a quilt my mother made.
Leftover pieces of me sewn together to try making me whole again.
Then I cried because I think I noticed that I have never been
whole.
Except with Ana.
I dialed her house number so fast. A million thoughts started to
grow in my mind when her mother answered.
She told me they sent Ana to Sao Paulo and were selling their
house to move. Her voice sounded tired.
“I’m so sorry for what happened to you. Ana told me you saved her
life and for this I will pray for you forever. I hope you survive
this and leave to a better place one day. I’m sorry I can’t help
but your parents have threatened to take us to court if we speak
with you more.”
Now I understand what people mean when they say their heart
breaks because I am very sure I felt mine begin to crack with her
words.
I didn’t get a chance to say anything. Ana’s mom hung up the
phone.
I’m not very sure about what to do. My mother says I should
pretend all of this didn’t happen to me and maybe I can go out
with a boy from our church now.
I was very mad… I am very mad because she knows the boys who did
this to me. They are from our church!
I hate to be such a terrible problem for everyone.
Maybe it’s better if I am dead. I’m scared now.
I don’t think I’m strong enough for this life.

This film, directed by M Pink Christofalo, will show a variety of first-hand accounts from adolescents who have been brutalized by society as well as their families.

It will also follow some of their aggressors and even community leaders who advocate these crimes. Over half of the victims of these attacks are kids under the age of 18.

The film is scheduled to begin shooting within the following weeks and needs your help!

The film crew needs to reach Brazil and accept their grant from Amnesty International. Even small gifts of  $10 or $20 will help this crew get to Brazil to make this movie, and save these kids’ lives.

Tax-deductible donations can be made at www.ilivekind.org.

Any gift of $100 or more will get your name, or the name of someone you love, in the credits of the movie (or even someone you hate- it’s up to you!).

If you are strapped for money, and still want to help, the best way to do that would be to forward this message on to as many people as you know.

Together we can make history, save lives,and make this world a safer, better place for everybody.

You can read more about the film on MySpace or make a standard Donation to the project at iLiveKind.org.

You can be assured that any funds donated or invested into this project are going to a global cause and could have an impact on the position of the United Nations and other leadership organizations worldwide… We CAN make a difference!

Julie Phineas is a work at home mom of 2 who lives in Southern California. You can find out more about her online by visiting her website at www.juliephineas.com.

I sort through the news on a daily basis and have a tendency to get down and out over the state of affairs in the world. What has affected me the most is the many recent suicides by young people who have been teased or bullied because they had been perceived as gay whether they were actually gay or not.

This is something that we here at LezGetReal have been aware of and fighting since we launched, as well as the many other injustices in the world like the genocide in Iraq, Prop 8 in California, corrective rapes in South Africa, hate crimes in Brazil, assaults, terminations, deportations; the list goes on and on.

Sometimes I am just tired of it all and want to throw in the towel, be like others, and just put my blinders on to the problems of the world.

I was having a day like this when I found out about another young suicide in Brazil which took me to a low I haven’t been to in a while.

Imagine my surprise when my wife came home from the grocery store and handed me a card like this:

WOW.

Simple yet powerful.

Then I turned the card around:

It was exactly what I needed to hear at the moment.

Someone had given this card to my wife, and gave her an extra one to give to someone else.

I can’t help but think that if someone had handed a card like this to those who had recently committed suicide, their deaths might have possibly been prevented.

Receiving this message gave me a feeling of empowerment over my life, and the words “Don’t Ever Give Up” have become a personal mantra in the face of adversity ever since then.

These 4 words can change your perspective on life, take some of the weight of the world off of your shoulders, and put you on a more positive path internally.

I’ve ordered some free business cards from Vista Print with the message on them, and posted a message that I can email on my website to send to others when I think they need it. Please feel free to do the same!

I’ve also since hunted down the person who started the “Don’t Ever Give Up” campaign, and will share that exclusive interview on my website in the near future. In the meantime, I hope you’ll join me in spreading this message around, and I thank you for any help you can give with that.

Remember no matter what, don’t ever give up!!

Julie Phineas is a work at home mom of 2 who lives in Southern California. You can find out more about her online by visiting her website at www.juliephineas.com.

Now LGBTs in Iraq are living with the threat of having their anus glued shut.

From Queerty:

And here we thought the murder of gay Iraqis would get the U.S. government to blink. How about the torture of gay Iraqis?

Buoying the theory that it’s the “anal sex” part of being gay that really infuriates homophobes, Iraqi militants are reportedly gluing shut the anuses of suspected gays. Repeat: Gluing shut their anuses. With a glue so resilient, you need surgery to remove it. This is not a time for jokes about having to take a shit (we’re looking at you, Bill O’Reilly). This is torture, and some 60 men have already been attacked with it.

And yet, while the U.S. spends billions every month on Iraqi operations, there’s no attention, let alone resources, going toward defending these folks.

And this is not just affecting LGBTs.

Straight men who have been perceived as gay are included in the hate. Many LGBTs have fled the country.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, the “champion in homophobic crimes”, gay-bashing is up 55%.

The Annual Report on Murders of Homosexuals, produced by the Grupo Gay da Bahia (GGB), says that 64 percent of 2008 hate crime victims were gay men, 32 percent were transgender, and four percent were lesbians.

According to the report, 45 percent of gays were killed in their homes, and 31 percent were not only stabbed with knives but also strangled or beaten – signs of homophobic hate, which can also be reflected by the number of stab wounds or blows received by the victim.

The GGB report says 48 homosexuals have been murdered so far this year.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Rep. Jared Polis Demands: Investigate Gay Iraqi Deaths (queerty.com)
• Iraqi LGBT: U.S. Has ‘Moral Responsibility’ to Save Gays in Iraq (queerty.com)
• Blackwater guards still at work in Iraq despite lacking license to operate (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

But in Brazil it is starting to look to many that the Roman Catholic Church in this country really needs to start getting the log out of it own eye before it gets the mote out of everyone else’s… And they need to do some cleaning of their house … before Brazilians come burn that house down for them…

In recent weeks here in Brazil, The Catholic Church has been doing it’s best to suppress personal freedom and has been going after anyone who dares speak out against religious discrimination against LGBT’s or is questioning of church doctrines in anyway…. And they have been doing it in some pretty heavy-handed and not altogether compassionate ways…

Last month a Brazilian bishop suspended a priest, Fr. Luiz Couto, who also happens to be a member of the Brazilian National Congress, for speaking out against discrimination aimed at gays and lesbians by saying… “We must struggle day by day against prejudice and intolerance,” and for questioning church doctrines about the use of contraceptives, when he said… “I defend the use of the condom as a matter of public health”.

Fr. Couto’s remarks were judged to be “intolerable” by the Archbishop, Aldo Pagotto, who presides over Couto’s diocese. Pagotto declared that, “As the head of the Archdiocese of Paraiba,” he was compelled to suspend the priest “from the use his orders in our ecclesiastical jurisdiction, because of his summary statements, which provoke confusion among the Christian faithful as long as they are not retracted explicitly,” adding that Fr. Couto’s comments contradict “the doctrinal, ethical, and moral orientations held by the Catholic Church.”

Archbishop Pagotto also said Fr. Couto’s support for a proposed “homophobia” law that would prohibit criticism of homosexual behavior and require that all organizations open to the public accept homosexuals as members would be getting him sent to hell straight away.

The Church in Brazil has a problem with other abnormalities and sins as well…

This month the Archbishop of Recife, Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, excommunicated a mother who gave her permission to doctors to perform an abortion on her daughter after the nine-year-old girl got pregnant as the result of being raped by her stepfather.

Doctors believed that the nine-year-old was too small to have twins and that going ahead with the birth would have put her life in danger.

The local Catholic hierarchy tried to stop the procedure anyway (which is allowed in Brazil only in cases of rape or to save the life of the mother), but when it failed to do so, the local archbishop decided to excommunicate the girl’s mother and the doctors.

However, the archbishop didn’t excommunicate the stepfather who is in jail now.

Archbishop Sobrinho defended his action and when asked why he did not excommunicate the 23-year-old stepfather, Sobrinho said: “He committed an extremely serious crime. But that crime, according to canon law, is not punished with automatic excommunication.

“Human law has no value” when it’s contrary to God’s law, the archbishop explained.

Archbishop Sobrinho did not say how long he has been talking to God, but Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Congregation for Bishops at the Vatican must be talking with God too because he agreed with Sobrinho saying, … “Life must always be protected.”

And the Catholic Church tells me as a lesbian I am immoral?

Helloooo… did these palhaços miss the part that said a nine year old child was RAPED and would DIE?

Our president, Luiz Inacio ‘Lula’ da Silva, didn’t and has criticized (only criticized mind you, and has not arrested Sobrinho and committed to the insane asylum where he clearly belongs) Archbishop Sobrinho and the Catholic Church for doing this, saying… “As a Christian and a Catholic, I deeply regret that a bishop has had such conservative behavior… In this case, medicine is more right than the Church.”

So I guess that President da Silva should probably expect to be excommunicated as well here pretty soon.

In Brazil, the 1980 census showed that 89 percent of residents described themselves as Catholic. Experts say that number has fallen to 70 percent of the population, and according to an official Catholic Church study, 600,000 of their faithful here in Brazil convert annually to a Protestant denomination or fall away from faith completely and are willing call themselves anything but Catholics….

Add in that Brazilians have not missed the pedophile priests scandals, complete with church cover ups, both in this country and around the world or that the church recently ex ex communicated a whole bunch of Neo Nazi priest’s who say the holocausts never happened, one of whom was recently deported by our neighbor Argentina, because they are not in to sheltering Nazis anymore, and one would not have to ask of this trend of Brazilians heading to other religions… Geewiz… I wonder just why that would be happening? (Sic)

Lezzie is half-closeted Brazilian Philosophy High School teacher writing on everything she has the opportunity to read, listen to and see (as a good Gemini).You can find out more about here by checking her profile at http://lezgetreal.ning.com/profile/Boudecca.

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• Vatican backs abortion row bishop (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Vatican Backs Excommunications Stemming From an Abortion (nytimes.com)
• Catholic Church Excommunicates Mother, Doctor Of9 Yr Old Who Had Abortion But Not The Father That Raped Her (oliverwillis.com)
• Catholic Church out of touch, out of love, out of compassion (seantheblogonaut.com)
• Brazilian Cardinal Gives New Meaning To ‘Suffer The Little Children’ (plastic.com)
• She’s a 9-year-old girl (washingtonmonthly.com)
• Nine-Year-Old’s Abortion Outrages Brazil’s Catholic Church (time.com)
• Vatican crisis over holocaust denier (guardian.co.uk)

“I’m the beginning and the dawn of a clean day,
I am my work.
I’m a bit of everything I’ve read
and a lot of what my friends are.
I am my thoughts.
I am mine.”

Kenia is a Philosophy and English teacher living in Brazil. In her free time she likes reading, writing, blogging, listening to music, and going to the movies. Kenia, aka Lezzie, is also a writer for LezGetReal.com. When asked to describe herself she says, “I do craftswork as a hobbie. I LOVE sunflowers but there are days even they can’t make me happy. I prefer rainy days to sunny ones. I love photography. I can’t dance.”

You can learn more about Kenia, aka Lezzie, from her profile here.

The creator, Del, regards the success to its connection with Parada Lésbica. “When I created PL, I wanted it to be a portal that broached varied subjects and had diverse functions: downloads, information, interaction among girls – and that’s why I created Leskut”, she says.

Most of the registered girls are between 16 (the minimum age) and 20 years old. Del explains that it was with the help of a lawyer that she got to the age of 16, when a person is legally seen as having already reached “age of consent” and is able to make her own sexual life choices. Nonetheless, having the 16-year-old girls around means Leskut has to be totally ‘clean’, free of porn. This moderation is done by 7 competent women that analyze together any suspicious profile or occurrence. Besides, Del personally talks to girls about the importance of keeping the network free of porn and obscenities .

Thanks to the healthy interaction environment created by this woman, 80 new girls join Leskut every day.

Lezzie is half-closeted Brazilian Philosophy High School teacher writing on everything she has the opportunity to read, listen to and see (as a good Gemini).You can find out more about here by checking her profile at http://lezgetreal.ning.com/profile/Boudecca.